Residents and officials in areas affected by hurricanes Ike and Gustav are commending efforts by Gulf Power crews who have been working during September with local utilities to restore power in Louisiana and Texas.

“Our work ethic and safety habits impressed the utilities we went to help,” said Gulf Power’s Scott Lee, who was a team leader for a 54-person crew that worked 13 consecutive days in Alvin, Texas, for Texas New Mexico Power Company after Hurricane Ike. “Our crew did a great job working from sunrise to sundown in areas with lots of wind damage.”

The city of 20,000 residents south of Houston was completely without power after the hurricane hit. Trees were blown onto power lines and poles were knocked over, and debris in the streets made it difficult for bucket trucks to maneuver.

Texas New Mexico Power credits Gulf Power crews ‑ who received a Certificate of Appreciation from city officials ‑ for being able to get power back on in just two weeks. Residents also are sending thanks by letter and email.

Earlier in September, a 51-person storm team worked in Louisiana for Central Louisiana Electric Company following Hurricane Gustav. Also, two teams worked in Louisiana and Texas helping Entergy assess damage to its system following both hurricanes.

Tommy Carpenter, a lineman who works out of Gulf Power’s Panama City Beach office, worked in the Lake Charles, La., area following Hurricane Gustav. He said their work included replacing poles in a pasture that still had a dead cow.

“It was typical storm work with lots of undergrowth we had to work through,” Carpenter said. “The residents were really nice people and they were happy to see us.”

Gulf Power works with other utilities in the Southeast to respond to storm restoration, and is one of the few utilities that has been recognized two years in a row for both restoration and assistance work in the same year.

Gulf Power helped South Florida utilities following Hurricane Charley in 2004, then restored power at home following Hurricane Ivan. In 2005, Gulf Power responded to damage from Hurricanes Dennis and Katrina in Northwest Florida, then helped other utilities in Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas after hurricanes Katrina and Rita.